115 Sunnyside Street
|
Last updated on November 21, 2024
|
The two-story school building was constructed in 1915 and was one of the two black schools on either side of the existing town limits. The school was previously called Booker T. Washington School until the new high school was built and given that name around 1939. The elementary school was renamed after D. Webster Davis, an African American teacher, poet, and lecturer from Richmond, Virginia. Prior to this building, all of Staunton's black children attended one school in the center of the business district. By 1940, Davis Elementary had an enrollment of 150 students, and seven teachers taught them. D. Webster Davis School closed around 1959 and is today the home of Sunnyside House of Prayer. The Staunton Augusta County African American Research Society dedicated a historical marker to the D. Webster Davis School in 2022.
